I really want to give the cruise 4.5 stars but of course the site won't let you. With that said here's my review.
My cruise history: I've only been on two other cruises, one with RC (3 nts) and one with Carnival (4 ... Read More

I really want to give the cruise 4.5 stars but of course the site won't let you. With that said here's my review.
My cruise history: I've only been on two other cruises, one with RC (3 nts) and one with Carnival (4 nts). Both short trips one to Baja Mexico and the other to Cozumel.
Overall summary: For the price, service, and experience this was a great cruise. First time sailing out of FL and now I realize this is the best way to go for me. I prefer this type of cruise the most if you want a fun tropical experience. RC staff and crew gave us the up most best service that made this trip enjoyable. Highly recommend. I only wish I had more time to take 4-5 nts.
Pros: Where do I begin? 1) The staff was just the best. I want to recognize my waiters Adele and Marc for the great dining experience. Also my cabin valet Dennis, he really made us feel comfortable and welcomed. 2) Entertainment: from the time we got up till bedtime, we always had something to do and it was a lot of fun. 3) The crew was so friendly and always joking around. It was hard to be in a bad mood. Everyone always smiled, no long or sour faces from the staff could be found. Now I can't say that about Carnival, sorry Carnival but I'm sailing only RC from now on. 4) For me the highlight was CocoCay! I loved everything about it, I couldn't wish for anything more it was just perfect, and I'm from Hawaii!! What was amazing was that they brought the food and entertainment to us there! I was not expecting that at all. Just awesome, good time.
Con: Only one and it's minor. Though the Windjammer Buffet was pretty good, it could use more variety and improvement. That's where Carnival had it beat. BUT I do have to say I only ate there during breakfast and one time for lunch. Maybe the lunch and dinner are great who knows, I didn't go. So that's why I would subtract half a star.
Thank you staff of Enchantment of the Seas for the great memories, I hope to be back! Read Less

I’m finally getting around to writing our review of our trip on the Enchantment back in March.
We flew down the night before, into Orlando, which I highly recommend if you live in an area with blizzards. We stayed at the Radisson ... Read More

I’m finally getting around to writing our review of our trip on the Enchantment back in March.
We flew down the night before, into Orlando, which I highly recommend if you live in an area with blizzards. We stayed at the Radisson Resort at the Port, we did learn the shuttle costs more if you land at 9pm or later. So Coco Beach Shuttle picked us up and transported us to the hotel. Our driver even stopped at 7-11 for gas so we bought wine there, since we didn’t take the risk flying with any. Our room was nice and the resort was cute. We walk to McDonalds in the morning and then caught the 10am shuttle to the port, and got there about 10:30ish.
We used the new Terminal 1 and Port Canaveral. This was my first cruise, so I have nothing to compare to. My significant other has been on many cruises. Checking in was super quick and easy, no worries, even carrying an Epi-Pen. We were through everything in less than 45 minutes. We made reservations for Chops as we were getting towards the ship.
Once onboard it was about 11am and rooms were ready at 1pm. We explored the ship and then grabbed some food from both the Windjammer and the Park Café. I liked Park Café better and the sandwiches were good. We hung out under the overhang as it was misty. We laid in the Solarium as well, until the rooms were ready.
We were in room 8100 which is a new Panoramic Ocean View. I would warn people about this, as it was our least favorite part of the cruise. We didn't know how loud it could be. The view is phenomical. The location is not. We were directly off the lobby and the noise starts early and is extremely loud at night. We never got to go to sleep early, even though we were tired. And directly above us was the pool deck. We couldn't pin point it exactly. We were thinking part of the walking path and ping pong. But we had constant heavy noise above us. Even with the white noise app on two phones (download ahead of time so you don't ahve to pay for wifi) we could still hear it.
Once we got into our room our luggage met us quickly and then we went to the Port talk. I would not recommend it, we had done adequate research. We participated in the muster drill, it actually went pretty fast. Then off to the pool to wait for departure. By then the weather had cleared off. We spent the afternoon on the main pool deck as we pulled out of port. The pool was pretty cold, so only the kids were in the water.
For dinner we ate at Chops. I had the french onion soup and veal, my BF had the shrimp and then steak. We had an absolutely lovely dinner. At the end of dinner we got engaged! Sadly there was no photographer around and our waiter didn’t understand that my boyfriend was trying to get him to take the picture right in the moment. I remember having dessert, but not exactly what we had. We used the wifi to call our families and tell them the big news! We walked around and took some pictures on the deck. I guess we are pretty boring people.
The next morning we were at Coco Cay. The waters were nice and calm when we arrived. We had a decent breakfast in the Windjammer. Lots of fresh fruit, I had pancakes and potatoes. Everything was hot and delicious. We did put some ice and water into our big Camelback water bottle for the beach.
We caught an early tender to the beach. We picked up our snorkel gear and hit the water. We had good instruction in how to use the gear. Snorkeling was fantastic! The water was warm (coming from someone in Wisconsin) and very clear. We spent a good hour in the water right away. My fiancée found a gold coin in the water. We also saw an eel and lots of fish, no sharks though. The fish were super pretty and very gentle. After snorkeling we explored and then relaxed on the shore. The bar line was really long and only mixed specific drinks. Lunch was nothing major. Just a standard BBQ, the meat was warm but I had some questions about the other “cold” salads. We ate about 12:30but it didn’t seem to be so cool. I wish we would have packed some snacks.
After lunch we used our “coin” and won a kayak, so we went exploring. We went across to the other island. We are experienced kayakers but there were some noticeable currents. We went all around in the allowable areas to explore. We saw a fin of an animal, not sure what.
After kayaking we put our snorkel gear on again. We went to see the plane and canon. Lots of cool fish in that area. We encountered one passenger who had cold hands and her ring slipped off. I was glad we secured everything in our room. We loved snorkeling and didn’t feel like we missed anything not doing a tour. We are strong swimmers and had lots of fun. We laughed at all the people on the shore screaming at the little minnows, there were some big cool fish out deep. Overall this was just the beach day we were hoping for. There were plentiful chairs and the beach was clean. The cabanas looked cute, but they used the same beach as everyone else. By about 3pm the island was clearing off and we took a 3:30 tender.
Once back on the boat we got our Coke cups and went straight to the Windjammer. I don’t remember the snack but we were so happy to get some real food compared to what we were offered for lunch. It was very refreshing. We did the “My Time” dining, so we ended up having an early dinner. By dinner it was overcast and a big sprinkly outside. We had a nice first dinner in My Fair Lady. We had a great server and crew! Bread was warm and dinner was delicious.
That night we saw the Love and Marriage show, which was hilarious and highly recommended. We had a leisurely night on the deck including ping pong, shuffle board and a dip in the hot tub at the Solarium.
On Wednesday morning we woke up in Nassau, already docked. We had a hearty breakfast in the Windjammer prior to our 9am excursion. We went on the Seahorse Catamaran and Snorkeling. Pick up was right outside the ship and very convenient. It was a 45 min ride to the snorkel site. We passed Atlantis and some other beautiful homes.
One we got there we had our safety briefing and got our gear on. Again the water was decent and we started snorkeling right away. At this stop we saw an eel, lots of colorful fish and coral. Everything was different than Coco Cay, which was nice. Snorkeling was fantastic at Rainbow Reef. On the ride back they put up the sails and served punch. We were dropped off at a different spot, about two blocks from the boat, but very clear how to get back.
We ran back to the ship to change out of our wet gear. We walked down the street to Lukka Kairi, which was relatively new. We really enjoyed the restaurant. The conch fritters are highly recommended! I also got the chicken with the chili sauce and texas toast. We’ve been talking about this place ever since we got home and can’t wait to go back again. We skipped Senor Frogs and wanted something authentic.
After lunch we shopped down town. We clearly weren’t the shopping type. We didn’t go for any brand name stuff and the majority of the other stuff was souvenir trinkets. So we didn’t buy much.
My fiancée likes history so we had some maps and walked to the Fort and the Queens staircase. We definitely had some questions about the neighborhood and if we were going the right way. Once we found it we entered the Fort, it was $1 each to get in. The neighborhood behind the fort was super questionable. The views were very nice, but we were so hot from the walk we didn’t really appreciate it. We listed to a tour guide at the Queens Staircase. That part was very interested. We probably would have felt better as part of a tour. We walked back downtown and went to the ship.
Once back on the ship we put on our swim gear and hit the pool. We took advantage of the Windjammer snacks during the afternoon. We had a run in with a very rude family at the pools that were cannonballing on top of us, so we had to get out and move. Since it was March we found out it was either sororities or frats on our boat for the most part. Not many couples around our age.
We watched what we could of the sunset. Sadly it was overcast again, so only a bit of the sunset. We hung out on the deck until our late dinner. Again we were satisfied with our food in the MFL for dinner.
That night was the midnight (11:30) deck party. It’s a great way to make sure everyone is on board on time. We realized how quickly Nassau shuts down at night. We wish we would have found a beach in the afternoon. The night was a bit slow until we left. The party was enjoyable, but we don’t dance. The food was alright, but very basic. It quickly died down.
The next morning we slept in and then had breakfast in the Windjammer. I did get a custom omelet, which didn’t take too long. We spent some time relaxing together in the room and went to the pool at about 1pm. I was not happy about the chair situation. There were no open chairs to be found. We walked around for 15 minutes looking. There were so many dirty towels on chairs and no one was clearing them up. We started asking people around them, but they were all someone’s chair, which was frustrating. One random sandal shouldn’t save a chair. We finally found one and ended up in the pool. It was a nice relaxing afternoon and they did the big wok stir fry by the pool and we supplemented with some Windjammer lunch as well. I got some sandwiches from the Park Café, but they weren’t grilled long enough, so they weren’t so great. It was just a nice pool day. They had a cannonball contest and other activities, since it was our only sea day. It was a little calmer once all the little kids who needed naps went to their cabins.
We had an early last dinner and then went to the final show. We could feel some rocking during the show, and at the end we found out we were sailing into a massive storm with 15+ ft swells. The show was cute, but nothing major. We had fun overall, which was the only real production we saw. We killed some time in the casino, but lost quickly. They did play the NCAA basketball on the pool deck, but then they had to drain everything because of the waves. That was the only time we had any queasy stomachs.
Overall we had a great cruise. We put our luggage out that night; we wish in the long run that we had walked off with it. Customs lines were long and it took about 45 minutes and we almost missed our shuttle to Orlando. We can’t wait to cruise again; it was such a great vacation. We enjoyed eating and relaxing in the sun. We loved Coco Cay and can’t wait to go to another private island.
We definitely did over pack and barely felt like we wore our clothes, since we were in our swimsuits so much. We pre-paid our tips and got drink packages, so we didn’t spend too much on board. Read Less

Gorgeous ship! Outstanding service! Fantastic kids' program, gorgeous private island, and unbelievable shows! Hard to complain, isn't it?? I feel, somehow, dirty, complaining about Disney......but, the food was terrible!!! Worst, I have ever had of the 4 other cruise lines we've traveled on. I took my daughter and her two sons, and the kids absolutely loved it! Their favorite part was the water slides.....all 3 of them. We felt the food was so bad that we'll probably not do another cruise by Disney. With the $$$$ the charge, and Disney's reputation to uphold, I don't know how their could serve such substandard fare. We also were a little disappointed with the crowd control boarding and disembarking the ship and the small size of all the pools; but we could have overlooked these if the food had been at the very least - decent! I'm so sorry to report this. Read Less

Our TA confirmed that a short 4 day cruise is a great way to sample a cruise. We were not disappointed in the least! My thanks goes out to Ken and excellent advice given on the Roll call from usual beach Cruise Critic member. Once we ... Read More

Our TA confirmed that a short 4 day cruise is a great way to sample a cruise. We were not disappointed in the least! My thanks goes out to Ken and excellent advice given on the Roll call from usual beach Cruise Critic member. Once we boarded on the ship, we stopped at Park cafe for a pulled pork sandwich for my hubby, and I had a Mexican quesadilla and potato salad. The day went fast, as my daughter and I went for the spa tour in which I booked the spa special: body massage, and exfoliant: wonderful spa package for a mom with neck osteoarthritis, how did they know I was coming, hmmmm? Our Aft JS was a corner unit, that we upgraded a month before sail day, from a balcony cabin, the extra cost came with equivalent OBC, which was happily spent at the spa and galley tour we booked!! We were late for the Cruise Critic informal meeting at 3 pm though, & missed meeting our fellow CC pax. Sorry, but we left a group message at the meeting board to meet up the next day at the pool bar and invited them to knock on our door during the cruise. But alas, we were so busy during the cruise, it didn' t work out. From our balcony, we said hello to the next deck, which was sweet, but again didn't meet "usual beach" family. One day, we will, one day!!! Our room attendant was Dwight, who made the sofa bed into a bed for my DD. We enjoyed sitting on our massive corner balcony, and recommend corner JS for the large size of the balcony. Once I figure out how to post pics, I will. The rest of our first day was basically spent trying to figure out what floor to go to the MDR, as we had no clue, at all. We found out our floor and table # was on our pass, now how easy is that?! We went to the 5th floor, to find out our assigned table was on the 4th floor. Dinner was slow being served, but still filling and delicious! Our second day, we woke up in time to observe the sunrise, taking several pics from our balcony.
Day 2 was a cruise day and my appointment at the spa. I ordered room service for a quick continental breakfast so that I could go to my 8 am spa special appointment. Was going to the spa worth it? Yes, it was awesome, and even better the bestest way to spend an OBC!!! While being pampered, my DH and DD went to swim in the pool and organized activities. I arrived in time to see the belly flop contest, alas from afar as it was super crowded with young, bikini-clad college students. The energy level in the crowd was infectious, and was the first day we bought the pool "drink of the day" something delicious with rum. The three of us went for a walk on the upper deck for exercise and to get away from the crowds, too. The 10th deck was strewn with lounge chairs, and even people lying down on their towels. On the subject of pool towels, they were a nice powder blue and overall were in good condition for use. Even at night, when my daughter went for a dip in the pool, when we picked up a pool towel, the towels were warm as the evenings were breezy during the movies by the pool. The same movie played two nights in a row Paddington Bear, which was fun to watch, as I was probably one of the few who hadn't seen this movie yet. By day 2, my hubby developed a cold and rested often, and in retrospect was glad he didn't waste money on the beverage packages. So we did what other budget-minded family does: read the compass, check out the drink specials, bought the poolside bar drink of the day, and kept the souvinear glass. The plastic kind of wine glass shaped was a bit funky as it changed colours with the temperature of the ice, yeah man, really cool and awesome dude!! As the afternoon passed while around the pool, we headed back to our room to wash up for the galley tour in the MDR. Boy, time flies while on the cruise!!! My daughter and I enjoyed going and listening to Masterchef Stephan for the lunch Galley Tour and appreciated the small group as we were only about 15 people. This tour was an added cost of $20 each, and in my opinion a worthwhile tour for the curious-minded about how food is prepared on a large cruise ship, and for the glasses of champagne and OJ, and for selfish reasons how the galley deals with food allergies. At the end of the tour, I appreciated receiving a personally prepared lunch. The entree choices were salmon Wellington, Eggs Benedict which was to die for, grilled chicken, or a brunch plate of eggs and bacon. My hubby took in the peaceful times in the Solarium and ate at the WJ, and spoke highly of the curry cauliflower. Afterwards, we went back to meet up with my dear hubby to go get a bit of ice cream by the pool. It was a hot day so a frozen treat was perfect!!
For supper, we brought our bottle of wine to the MDR, and enjoyed the delicious supper. This was the night the whole family went to see the movie on the large screen, my daughter made tons of friends in the pool, and my hubby and I enjoyed a drink by the pool. The warm towels kept on warm, and wrapped my daughter up nice and warm once she left the pool at the end of the movie. We tiredly, retired to our cabin, took in some quiet peaceful air on the balcony. Another day happily whizzed by on the Enchantment!!
Day 3 arrived with another sunny, hot day in Nassau. We shopped at the port, bought the infamous Tortula rum cake, and tried to bring in a Mickey of Bahamas rum. No can do when returning from port as security does take their job very seriously, runs all parcels and pursed through Xray machines and asked my hubby what was in his side pocket. Oh well, we tried!! We has a quick lunch at the WJ, and went back to Nassau to go to the public beach, which was so beautiful with crystal clear, blue water. My hubby bought some brewskis at one of the stands, which came with four shots of rum, how they like rum at the Bahamas!! We enjoyed the drinks on the sandy beach and slowly returned to be Enchanted. Time was flying by again and was so happy to have spent the day shopping and swimming, which is a far cry from what we would have been doing in Canada, shovelling snow, yuck!! We dressed up for formal night, using my newly purchased party purse to accent my black outfit. After supper I went to join the 70's 80's party in the Centrum, and boy did I ever rock it out!! I missed the beginning as there were some staff dressed up as the Village people and doing some nice dance moves on the small stage. The DJ music seemed to become louder but it was actually the crowd singing along with the songs!! Great stuff! Afterwards, we relaxed on our balcony and watched the stars, dreaming of our next day at the infamous Coco Cay (see separate excursion review).
Day 4 - last full day waking up to another sunny calm day, spent at Coco Cay. Our room steward left us the optional tip envelope, in which we gave Dwight an extra tip, and prepared another envelope for our dinner waitress Genevie and assistant Osip as they were very vigilent about their treatment of our food allergy requests and of course remembering which buns my hubby and I preferred. (loved, loved, loved their service and extra servings of appetizers and entrees. Our favorite entree of the whole trip was tonight's lamb shank served with mint jelly, it melted in our mouths. Our last time to see a show was at 7 pm, done superbly with a big thank song at the end to the captain, galley chef,etc.
Overall, I have only one small event I missed going to during our cruise, wait for it, ... BINGO! as the last time I played BINGO, I won a door prize. Oh well perhaps next cruise!
In summary, our family enjoyed our first cruise and highly recommend using a good TA to help you choose your first Caribbean cruise, complimented with our own researching of cruise destination options through this CC.
Cheers! Read Less

My husband and I (yes - only 2 adults in our party), booked the 3-night cruise on the Disney dream with no foreknowledge of what to expect. A Disney cruise was suggested to us by a friend, and we found dates that worked for us.
We. ... Read More

My husband and I (yes - only 2 adults in our party), booked the 3-night cruise on the Disney dream with no foreknowledge of what to expect. A Disney cruise was suggested to us by a friend, and we found dates that worked for us.
We. Were. Blown. Away.
Every detail was excellently executed. The ship was clean in every regard. We didn't have a negative experience with ANY staff members. Everyone was knowledgable, friendly, helpful.
Again, I reiterate. We. Were. Blown. AWAY! We spent 5 days in Disney World after the cruise and wished we were still on the cruise. We're certain we prefer our Disney Dream cruise experience to any other Disney experience we've had, between Disneyland, or Disney World.
We CAN'T WAIT to go back and try all four Disney ships.
The entertainment was unexpectedly delightful (and helped me to totally forget my nausea from the slight turbulence of the ship!!)
Our shore excursions, which we booked through Disney, were SEAMLESS. We weren't initially sure how we were going to get from place to place, but OF COURSE Disney took care of us and had all the details figured out.
Yes, there were many families and children aboard but we didn't find them to be a problem. I enjoyed being surrounded by little ones feeling magic and having fun. So great!
There were so many activities, that we weren't able to try everything and can't wait to do so in the future. But we DID attend the shows, the orientation tour, the movie theater (saw Cinderella!), the "when you're at Nassau" shopping presentation with Summer, and Senses Spa which was an impeccable experience. VISIT THE SPA! Read Less

This was our family's second Disney cruise, first time on Dream, (first cruise was on Magic in 2013) and this time we brought along grandma and grandpa in adjoining stateroom. We settled on this 4 day cruise because it fit our ... Read More

This was our family's second Disney cruise, first time on Dream, (first cruise was on Magic in 2013) and this time we brought along grandma and grandpa in adjoining stateroom. We settled on this 4 day cruise because it fit our schedule for spring break from school and because it just cost a little bit less and that was welcome. We have two children who are (as of this review) 6 and 4.
Embarkation day we spent eating lunch and riding the AquaDuck. It was all about the AquaDuck for my kids. There's only one of me, though so they had to take turns riding it (they're not big enough to go by themselves yet) and that was kind of a bummer. It's a super fun ride, to be honest, but sometimes when the line is very long, I don't quite understand the wait times. But - here's a tip - board the ship in your bathing suit and head up to Deck 11 right away. We had super short wait times when we boarded the ship around noon. It wasn't until much later in the afternoon, say around 3 pm when the lines started to get kind of silly.
We enjoyed our harbor cruise around Nassau and it was an OK value for a cruise-line-booked excursion. My dad (grandpa) has some difficulties getting around and it was tough for him to make the walk from the ship to the pick up point, but he did make it and enjoyed it. We learned there is a somewhat irregular (free/gratuity) shuttle bus that will transport passengers from the cruise ships to the harbor building and back which is the primary pick up point for most excursions. (We took this shuttle back to the boat later.)
Castaway Cay was definitely the highlight of this cruise. We'd never been before but everyone in our whole party loved it. It's just custom built to be a super fun day at the beach with the family. There are tons of activities to do for people of all ages and abilities. Another tip - try to get off the boat early because then you will have more of the facilities to yourself. I debarked at 8:45 am and basically had the entire snorkeling lagoon to myself for a good hour. All of the morning-feeding fish where out and it was just a lovely time - me, the lifeguards and the fish all swimming around. We are all looking forward to heading back to Castaway Cay in the future. That night was also pirate night and our kids were super excited - we were all in costume and took lots of pictures. We were the last family to get a picture with Captain Jack Sparrow before he rescued our ship from a bunch of nasty pirates. The fireworks were fun and the we all enjoyed them.
Our final day was an at-sea day. We adults had champagne brunch at Palo which was magnificent. The one drawback was that the basketball court is like directly over the restaurant - this noise was sometimes a little bit distracting from the otherwise wonderful ambiance. We also had reservations for Remy this night but opted to cancel them because we were double booked at Animator's Palate and my wife really wanted to see the "show" with Crash from Nemo. We were still so full from brunch, it probably would have been a waste. While we were at Palo, the kids were in the Kid's Club activities - every time we put them in Kid's Club it took like 15 minutes to convince the kids to leave they were having so much fun every single time I went to get them. This particular day, my daughter had just finished playing in the Green Army Men Bootcamp from Toy Story and my son was doing a mystery puzzle game with Smee and Cap'n Hook from Peter Pan. (Two of his favorite characters, by the way.) They hardly wanted to leave. One really nice thing about the club is that if your kids are in there over a meal time (like breakfast, lunch or dinner) they will get fed by the team. I can't say enough about how much my kids liked the kids club activities - there always seemed to be a crazy amount of stuff for them to explore and do both with other kids and the counselors. One other fun thing my son and I did was the "Midship Detective Agency" game. This is an interactive video game where you run all over the ship with your own specialized badge and find special "interactive artwork" which gives you clues about your particular case that you can solve.
Overall, I think we all had a great time, but to be honest, my wife and I felt like 4 days was just not enough time to really fully enjoy all of the amenities and activities that Disney packs on to their ships. We rebooked a "placeholder" cruise onboard because it's such a good deal and we are looking for a longer itinerary for our next trip - we just need more time than 4 days on DCL. Read Less

I have been on several Royal Caribbean cruises and this one was by far the best. I was in cabin 4574 and it is in the middle of the ship which I found to be a perfect location. The room was a large interior and had plenty of room for two ... Read More

I have been on several Royal Caribbean cruises and this one was by far the best. I was in cabin 4574 and it is in the middle of the ship which I found to be a perfect location. The room was a large interior and had plenty of room for two people.
The ship seemed to be more up to date with amenities such as a huge touch screen beside the elevators that gave information to you such as your cabin location and had the activities of the day etc. It also has an outdoor movie theater by the pool as well as a bungee trampoline.
The food was absolutely delicious! You have to try the escargot as well as the Sticky Bread and Butter Pudding. Arnold and Mina in the dining room gave us excellent service.
The entire crew on this ship is top notch and everyone from the cruise director and his Bing Bong group to the bartenders go out of their way to make sure you have the perfect vacation. Oh and R Bar serves th best drinks! Read Less

We took our grandchildren on the same cruise last year. This year their ages were 10 and 7. Bothe time we booked two separate cabins one for the grandchildren and one for us. Great idea if you can afford it. We generally do not splurge ... Read More

We took our grandchildren on the same cruise last year. This year their ages were 10 and 7. Bothe time we booked two separate cabins one for the grandchildren and one for us. Great idea if you can afford it. We generally do not splurge when it comes to hard earned money. The rooms were booked early enough to be adjoining with an inside door connecting them. Did not get a veranda room since we felt that it would not be used. If the weather was good the kids would be either at the water sport area or on the shore with us. Also I felt it would be safer, whether this concern was substantiated or not I do not know. We felt both cruises were excellent. Much depends upon the serving staff. Last years were far better than the ones that we had this year. Both times they were excellent. A few suggestions to consider. .1. We decided not to part take in the "fancy restaurants" this time. Last year we felt it was a waste of money. The service and food were just as good when we ate with the kids. Perhaps we may be hard to please. We are New Yorkers and used to extremely fine restaurants. The Disney Cruise restaurants that you are assigned to are up to par with some very fine places around the world. As a side note, we do quite a bit of cruising. Believe it or not the Disney Dream food and service were far better than the Queen Mary across the Atlantic! Sssh! You can order special dishes if you wish. Our grandchildren love Caesar salad and they were happily served it at each meal. Gladly gave they servers an extra tip at the end of the voyage. 2. If you go to Nassau then consider the dolphin experience. We did it last year and believe it to be worth the expense. It was a great experience. Also splurge and get the video. I would usually expect it to be a total hype. Someone advised me to get the video and I feel it was well worth it. Another suggestion if you go to Nassau. Do not go on the Atlantis Adventure if you can choose the dolphins. I not only found this to be a big mistake but feel they need to get another vendor to arrange this tour. When you get there all it is - is another large waterpark. We did not even get chairs. There were literally hundreds of people, probably visitors, hotel guests and or other cruise passengers. No chairs were available on a very sunny and hot day. Many were reserved for "who-knows-who". You could get the same experience at the Red Hook Brooklyn public pool. The cost was also ridiculous. We ate a the fast food stand "Peices". The fried fish was good after a long wait on line avoiding the sea gull poop. In retrospect perhaps we could have been better off staying on board (we previously went to the dolphins). I suppose most of the kids went ashore at that time and our grandchildren would be able to easily get on the AquaDuct without much wait. Read Less

Just returned from our MLK weekend cruise to Nassau, Bahamas and Castaway Cay on the Disney Dream. I've been on several cruise lines, but this has been my first (but not last) Disney cruise. I'm a travel agent, so I had a fairly ... Read More

Just returned from our MLK weekend cruise to Nassau, Bahamas and Castaway Cay on the Disney Dream. I've been on several cruise lines, but this has been my first (but not last) Disney cruise. I'm a travel agent, so I had a fairly large group (50 people) travel with me. Mostly adults, but we did have 8-10 kids between 8-16 travel with us. Great experience from the initial booking to the actual disembarking. Unlike the other cruise lines, Disney allows you to bring on your alcohol. This was a great bonus for the adults. It saved everyone quite a bit of money. And the free sodas (except when ordered in room service) was also great. You did not need a soda package like the other cruise lines. There were several great bars that were under utilized by the adults. Maybe it was the time of the year, but none of them were ever busy. Pink is beautiful. Evolution was also pretty cool. Check out the R&B band too. They were pretty good.
All of the food was pretty decent. Make sure you check out the brunch at PALO. Best $25pp I've ever spent. The service is exceptional. Berny was our server and she was awesome. Nicole at the front desk of Palo was great too. In the dining room we had Lorenzo and Rashuan. They took very good care of our large group. I would have to say that the food selection at Royal Palace was my favorite, and then Enchanted Garden. I didn't too much care for the food at Animator's Palate, although the experience in there was great for the younger travelers. You definitely don't have to dress up in that restaurant.
Lots to do on the boat for all ages. I only wish the basketball court didn't close at 6pm. By the time we came back on the ship it was closing so my son was really disappointed. I heard it re-opened at midnight, but by that time we were mostly in the movie theaters as it was too cool to be out on the deck. Loved all the movies....but why does Disney charge for popcorn?? That should be included in my opinion. And the glasses don't get cleaned after each 3D movie, so make sure you sanitize them. Other than that, we really enjoyed seeing some of the movies that were still out in the theaters or ones that had recently left the theater. Another downside, the pictures are wayyyy to expensive. $20 a pop, and they're only one size. The cd was $149 for 10 pics. That's 1/3 of what I paid for my portion of the trip. lol. I think Disney would really capitalize if they made the pictures available online after the trip (when people have some more money to spend) or either make different sizes available at different rates. They print all of those pictures and they go to waste. All of the pictures turned out really good, but I only left with 3 because I thought it was ridiculous to spend that much money.
My stateroom: When I was assigned my room, I couldn't find any pictures online. Although all the rooms pretty much look the same, I really liked the location of my room. We were the last rooms in the aft. We were pretty much in the corner, next to the handicap room (which is HUGE). The balcony was great. We had two loungers and two regular chairs, along with a table. We barely used it, but for the price, it was great to have--especially when pulling up to the ports. Since we seemed to back in, we had the best view. If you're looking at the back of the ship, we were right above the Mickey painting (and next to the flag). It does get a little noisey when pulling in to the port, but it wasn't enough to bother me. The boat does get a little rocky back there at night...but I think that's because they speed up at night. It wasn't enough to get you sea sick or anything but you definitely feel it more than when staying in the midship (in my opinion). Albert was our stateroom guy and he was amazing. Two thumbs up!
Castaway cay was very nice. And the food was very good. All of the boating excursions got canceled due to the wind, so we just layed out on the beach and a few did the aqua bikes and snorkeling.
Disney definitely has the best customer service hands down! I would definitely book again. Read Less

Was a little disappointed with this cruise, not as great as expected. We were staying at the Beach Club at WDW, so we took the shuttle bus from there to the port. Very easy. We were with our children and two young grandsons. We had ... Read More

Was a little disappointed with this cruise, not as great as expected. We were staying at the Beach Club at WDW, so we took the shuttle bus from there to the port. Very easy. We were with our children and two young grandsons. We had adjoining family staterooms with balconies. The rooms were very large and and nicely laid out, they slept five, the bathroom was great, two choices of shower heads and kept very clean. As a frequent cruiser, I felt the food was just okay. The portions seemed small to me, and for the price of this cruise, there was no Lobster night. The activities were mostly for girls. With the exception of Pirate Night. The early show was only 20 minutes, the later show and longer one was at 10:30, why so late?. We really did not go to any of the shows, The ship itself is gorgeous with great detail and a lot of nice lounges for adults, the restaurants were really beautiful. The only time I felt overwhelmed by children, was at the pool. Wall to wall children. But the adult only part of the ship was terrific. We did a day excursion to Atlantis which was great for the kids, they stayed at the beach and hubby and I went to the Casino. Did okay. Castaway Cay was terrific. We had a great day there and the BBQ was really good, Disney should build a hotel on that island. Disembarkation was a little annoying, only because if you had early seating for dinner, you had to have breakfast on the last morning at 6:45AM. Have never been on a cruise with such a requirement. Finding our luggage was very organized and Disney took us to the airport. I probably will not take another Disney cruise, it was not worth the money we paid for it. Read Less

I upgraded our cabin to enjoy a balcony and only on the ship learned that this meant so small cabin that we had to crawl under bunk-bed or hop over double bed to get to the balcony. I saw a floor-plan of our previous cabin and thought this ... Read More

I upgraded our cabin to enjoy a balcony and only on the ship learned that this meant so small cabin that we had to crawl under bunk-bed or hop over double bed to get to the balcony. I saw a floor-plan of our previous cabin and thought this would be similar but it was not. If you are four, prepare yourselves to sleep very uncomfortably! Luckily we were only three. Also the balcony was so tiny that you can't express any enjoyment of it.
I also thought all-inclusive would mean all-inclusive but they have invented a huge amount of "nominal" fees they charge on top of the cruise price. The drinks are really expensive and in the middle of the cruise they announce that they charge "for customer's convenience" 60 dollars per customer... Tips!
Meals are good and there is quite a lot of program. Only our 12-year oli son was late on the first meeting of the club of 12-14-year olds and despite several attempts found no friends on board. Most of the time these kids were on themselves and when he tried to talk to others he got no response. Even table-tennis tournament that was on the program was without adult supervision. Read Less

This was our first cruise ever. We went to celebrate my husbands 40th birthday. We left out of Orlando. We flew in a day early and rented a car, stopped at Universal Studios, then stayed at Country Inn close by the port. The next day ... Read More

This was our first cruise ever. We went to celebrate my husbands 40th birthday. We left out of Orlando. We flew in a day early and rented a car, stopped at Universal Studios, then stayed at Country Inn close by the port. The next day we returned the rental car and they shuttled us to the port. When we arrived at the port there were people there who immediately took our luggage and were very helpful. We did not have to wait in line for a long time to get "checked in" and then we were able to walk right on to the ship. We were greeted as we walked on to the ship and able to go straight to the Windjammer for lunch. We had absolutely the best time on this cruise. Our cruise director was absolutely amazing and I would recommend any cruise that he is on. This is a smaller ship but had tons of entertainment but we were able to relax when we wanted to also. We did enjoy a few of the shows. I would HIGHLY recommend the marriage game show! I was in tears laughing so hard. It was great! When we arrived back at port we decided to take our own luggage off and were able to get off the ship very quickly. Read Less

The three day cruise to Castaway Cay was the perfect ending to my wife's 50th birthday celebration. This was our 4th cruise on a 4th different cruise line, so we have experienced many different styles up to this point.
Starting with ... Read More

The three day cruise to Castaway Cay was the perfect ending to my wife's 50th birthday celebration. This was our 4th cruise on a 4th different cruise line, so we have experienced many different styles up to this point.
Starting with arrival and embarkation - Port Canaveral was a dream in itself compared to some other ports we have gone through previously. I opted for the pre-pard onsite parking - upon our arrival at the port, we were greeted with nothing but very friendly staff more than willing to talk and aid us in our arrival. I pulled up to the curb and a Disney employee helped unload our luggage with a friendly greeting. After dropping the luggage off, we made a quick drive across the street to the parking garage, parked, and within minutes was in the terminal checking in. After a very quick check-in (had already done online check-in), we waited about 15-20 minutes for our boarding zone to get on the ship - all in all, very quick and painless and the best boarding experience we have ever had.
Stepping onto the ship, our first impression was wow! The ship was in impeccable condition - well maintained and very clean. Disney is a fanatic about cleanliness - they are handing you antibacterial wipes at every place where food and drink are served. We had lunch at the buffet (Cabanas) which was average - we have had better buffets on other ships, but still good. Having free soft drinks included in cruise price was a great bonus - another Disney plus.
One of our concerns taking our first Disney cruise was the fear of children running everywhere, but they have done a great job of setting up 18 and over areas - there are special deck and pool areas, as well as an entertainment district in the back of one deck that is 18 and over at night.
Onto our room- we booked a Navigator's Verandah room and ended up being upgraded to a full standard balcony room at no extra charge - Room 8660 which is Starboard AFT. The room was laid out very nice - a bathroom separated into two rooms- one with shower/tub and sink, and the other with toilet and sink - largest bathrooms we have had on a cruise ship. Large closets, a queen size bed, and a sofa rounded out the large room. The balcony was great - first time for us and I will have a hard time not booking one in the future - makes the room feel so much larger and is great place to unwind away from everyone on deck. We also had the benefit of a front row seat on the pirate fireworks night - great view! We had always had midship rooms for comfort sakes, but no vibrations or rocking in the AFT room this time.
Entertainment was incredible - most elaborate sets and production we have ever seen on a ship. As expected, all were with the great wholesome Disney touches, but always had a few adult jokes thrown in. Pirate night was fun with the deck party and the fireworks from the boat.
Disney main dining is truly unique - three different themed restaurants in three nights with your server moving with you. The first night we had Animators Palate- an artist's studio theme with a heavy dose of Nemo on the many screens throughout the restaurant. I had stated in my reservation that we were celebrating my wife's birthday and at the end of the meal, they brought her a little cake and sang happy birthday. As we got up to leave after our dinner, an animated turtle from Nemo "swam" up to the screen above our table and wished my wife happy birthday - really cool touch, but hey, this is Disney, so I would expect something special. The food was good that night - I had red snapper - very good. They gave my wife a "birthday" button that she wore the next day - every crew member that passed her wished her a happy birthday - a nice touch.
The second night we went to the Enchanted Garden - it was pirate night and my wife dressed up as a pirate. This was the best meal so far - had a sea bass that was very good. The last night was an optional dress up night - we chose to do so and we dined at the Royal Palace. Another good meal - the rack of lamb was very tasty. All in all, the servers were excellent and the food was very good as well.
Day activities were varied and we had some pretty good fun. We learned how to make towel animals, played some trivia games, and even participated in the Mickey 200 - a pinewood derby event where the cars are made primarily from vegetables - a fun and unique idea.
The highlight of the trip was Castaway Cay - a truly beautiful island. We opted for the 18+ beach at the far side of the island - just a short tram ride from the ship, which docks right at the island- no tenders. The beach had chairs and umbrellas all set up - no charge. The water was crystal clear and the sea life abundant. We saw live starfish, conch, fish, and even a stingray! Disney provided a BBQ lunch on the island - again, a separate one was for 18+. All in all, a wonderful day and instantly had us talking about coming back again.
All good things must come to an end, so we arrived back in Port Canaveral around 6am - a quick breakfast at the buffet and we elected to walk off with our luggage and were off the ship by 7:15am. Again a very smooth operation.
We had always been spooked a little by the higher cost of Disney cruises, but after taking this one, it is worth the money. The all around quality of the ship, activities, service and food coupled with the impeccable cleanliness makes it a great value for the money. Read Less

This was our first cruise on Royal Caribbean and probably our last. The ship was having mechanical issues and we did not get notified until the day we were going to board the ship. All of our ports got changed and we had to stay in the ... Read More

This was our first cruise on Royal Caribbean and probably our last. The ship was having mechanical issues and we did not get notified until the day we were going to board the ship. All of our ports got changed and we had to stay in the Bahamas for 2 days. We had to stand in line for 21/2 hours to board the ship with very long lines. While talking to others in line, Royal Carribean knew that their was a problem earlier because people were telling us that their excursions were cancelled a week ago. We booked our excursions through private companies so it left me scrambling to cancel reservations and book new excursions from my cell phone while waiting in line. They should have informed us earlier that we would not be going to St Thomas and St Marteen, but I'm sure they did not want to deal with all the phone calls and complaints.
I was expecting the food to be better then it was. The buffet was not very good, and the pizza at Sorrento's was usually dried out and like cardboard. The dining room food was a little better. I will say this, Our servers Rouge and Madel were awesome probably the best thing about the cruise! As for me I like Carnival better, they had more of a selection of places to eat that are open more hours. They really need to dry dock this boat and get it fixed. You could really feel the vibration from the broken blade and it is in need of some updating especially new carpet. Overall very disappointed I was expecting much more. Read Less

This cruise was set to go to Coco cay St Thomas and St Marrten However 9 pm the night before we were sent an e mail at 9 pm saying there was a technical issue and the itenerary was changed. We went to Nassau for 2 days of ship repairs ... Read More

This cruise was set to go to Coco cay St Thomas and St Marrten However 9 pm the night before we were sent an e mail at 9 pm saying there was a technical issue and the itenerary was changed. We went to Nassau for 2 days of ship repairs meaning we had to cut the blades of the main propeller off because of a main bearing issue that has plagued the ship since it was built. After this we went to Cozumel which was the only port that had an open slot that week RCL made it sounded like it happened the night before however the Captian spilled the beans and said they had know longer because they were looking for a port the week previous. The food and service was horrible on this ship and we hate to say this because we are loyal RCL cruisers.This is the short verion I can go on with the series of mishap and adventures. I will say my parents are going on the same ship and itenerary today Dec 14 and they were call last night late with the same song and dance as we got. This kind of bad business practice RCL has adopted is starting to get them the same reputation as Carnival Read Less

Did this cruise only because we are Trace Atkins fans. Had been a while since on a Carnival ship back when they said cabins were 185 sq.ft. We were unimpressed with the smaller cabin and the balcony was so small one person could not pass ... Read More

Did this cruise only because we are Trace Atkins fans. Had been a while since on a Carnival ship back when they said cabins were 185 sq.ft. We were unimpressed with the smaller cabin and the balcony was so small one person could not pass another person. I thought they had forgotten to put body lotion in the cabin, but our steward advised we had to go to shops and buy our own. There is no hair dryer, you must call purser and borrow a hair dryer. There is no fridge and no couch or love seat in balcony cabin. Perhaps because it was a short cruise, there was no perk for platinum members other than a special boarding line which then merged into the general boarding line
Past guests got a coupon for 1 free drink that could only be used for lunch or breakfast in the main dining rooms. Guess this was to be sure not everyone would bother using the coupon.
Employees were quick to say hello and good morning, evening, whatever. Can't complain about the service, but the feeling we were sailing on the cheap was evident. The cruise wasn't as cheap as that cruise would have been without the concert. Standard tickets to the concert were $20 seats first come first seated, except the first 4 or 5 rows were reserved for those of us paying $100 for a meet and greet ticket which also got you a photo w/Trace, but if you blinked, too bad cause the time for each of us was in seconds not minutes. We had waited outside the meeting room a good 2 hours before it opened, so we had the pics and were on our way to the auditorium in no time and had front row seats.
All in all, was disappointed in the cabin, the lack of toiletries (be sure to take your own lotion and conditioner). We have been sailing Celebrity the p ast few years and will continue to choose Celebrity. We are Elite with Celebrity and the perks are plentiful. Read Less

From start to finish everything was perfect on this cruise. The boarding process was quick and painless, and once onboard the ship was beautiful and spotlessly clean. The staff were extremely friendly and accommodating at all times. Our ... Read More

From start to finish everything was perfect on this cruise. The boarding process was quick and painless, and once onboard the ship was beautiful and spotlessly clean. The staff were extremely friendly and accommodating at all times. Our waiters Dwight and Richard were the best. My kids loved them. Our stateroom hostess Lidia was so friendly and went out of her way to take care of us. Each night we would have a different "Towel Animal" on the bed. She kept our stateroom neat and tidy. Not an easy task with two messy teenage girls.
The food was great and there was always plenty to eat. We loved the AquaDuck water coaster and just lounging on the deck. It was fun to be able to watch movies on the huge screen or the football games on Thanksgiving day.
Even though there were over 4000 passengers on the cruise you never felt like you were in a crowd. We stopped in Nassau on the first day. Unless you want to spend large amounts of money to use the facilities at the Atlantis there was not much of draw there. We did get of the ship and walk around for a while, but then went back onboard and enjoyed a day when a lot of the passengers were not onboard.
Day 2 was spent at Disney's private island, "Castaway Cay." It was absolutely wonderful. We swam in the clear blue water, rented bikes and road around the island and enjoyed a delicious buffet lunch on the island. We could have spent more time here. Back on board that night was the Pirate night. With all kinds of pirate themed activities culminating in a Pirate Deck party complete with fireworks and a dance party.
Day 3 was a relaxing day at sea.
We enjoyed all of the shows and saw a few of the first run movies available in the theater.
We worried about the waiting to get our luggage with over 4000 people on board, but it was well organized and we had our bags were off to out shuttle in a matter of minutes.
We had people for age 11 to 80 in our party and everyone truly enjoyed the experience and there were things for all age groups to do. I highly recommend Disney cruises and the Disney Dream Read Less

Last year we went on our first cruise and went on the Carnival Dream to the western Caribbean. We had an amazing time so we decided to take a cruise again this year!
Because of the itenerary we chose the Carnival Sunshine, and we ... Read More

Last year we went on our first cruise and went on the Carnival Dream to the western Caribbean. We had an amazing time so we decided to take a cruise again this year!
Because of the itenerary we chose the Carnival Sunshine, and we we're kind of excited because of the new interior but also a bit anxious because of the bad reviews of this ship.
Overall we had a good time but the Sunshine is not to be compared to the Dream.
The food wasn't that great in the restaurants and it looked sober, also had some hairs in my food twice.
We had the worst seating ever at the entrance in a corner, but the dining staff was fabulous, they work very hard. The Restaurants you pay for are awesome and you should realy go there! The buffet is fine.
We had a Spa Balcony Room on deck 10 and it was a little outdated, de airconditioning made an awefull sound but they fixed this right away, The balcony door didnt close properly so the wind was howling pretty bad, we fixed this ourselves with a whole lot of paper towels.
We had some rough rough sea the first 3 days and the ship was banging because of the wind.
Overall it is a carnival ship and it is fun, and it is what you make of it. But comparing the interiour, the staff and all the little things to the Dream.. This ship is fun for a short cruise, go bigger for a 8 day cruise but thats my opinion. I had a good time but i'm not paying that much anymore to cruise on the Sunshine, they have some work to do!
Had a bad experience at the Spa though, I booked a manicure and the lady who did this was pretty bored and uninterested. She gave me higher prices then on the pricelist! And the manicure was sh*t. I could have done better myself.
I expect better from Carnival! The Spa looks lovely but the staff there isn't skilled enough, You pay a high price and you get a manicure that could have been done by a 10 year old girl.
Read Less

We've taken seven cruises with NCL (Norwegian Cruise Lines) and decided to take our first cruise with Disney to celebrate our 5 year old daughter's birthday. Having searched reviews before to see the differences between NCL and ... Read More

We've taken seven cruises with NCL (Norwegian Cruise Lines) and decided to take our first cruise with Disney to celebrate our 5 year old daughter's birthday. Having searched reviews before to see the differences between NCL and Disney without success, I thought I would use this opportunity to share what I discovered on this trip.
We did Disney, Sea World, and Universal Studios in the 5 days prior to our cruise. Cruising post-theme parks was the right idea we discovered. Relaxing on the ship after walking parks was well worth the wait. Couldn't imagine going the other way. We stayed at the Residence Inn by Marriott in Cape Canaveral the night before the cruise. This hotel was only about a mile from the Disney Cruise Terminal and had a shuttle service available at $3 per person. We enjoyed a nice dinner at Rusty's on Port Canaveral the night before and watched all the cruise ships depart the port.
The process of checking in to Disney was similar, but smoother to our past experiences with NCL. Disney owns their own terminal and has this process down pat, versus NCL often using random terminals and employees that work for other cruise lines as well - but still it was much faster with Disney. Going through security, a guard had to take my daughter's birthday ballon "for security purposes", which made no sense. She was bawling. Out of the blue, that same security office found us in line and gave her a stuffed Minney Mouse - which quieted her right down. Nice touch Disney!
Having recently sailed on the Norwegian Gem, which was built around the same time and at the same shipyard as the Disney Dream, I expected many similarities - but found few. The Dream was certainly a bit more glamorous but I didn't enjoy the ship layout as much as I have found on the NCL ships we have sailed (The Jewell, The Gem, and The Sun). While the casino was obviously absent on the Dream, I didn't like that the adult nightclub areas were buried at the back of the ship. Not many people ever found them and they were often vacant of people at night. In fact, there was really no nightlife in the adult clubs on the Dream at all compared to the NCL ships. The pools on the Dream were the smallest cruise ships pools I have ever seen. They were instantly filled with kids all the time and didn't look inviting. Still, I liked the display overhead of constant Disney movies. The hot tubs on the Dream were two metal tanks on the edge of the ship that reminded me of cow troughs versus hot tubs. On NCL, they have several round, welcoming jacuzzi tubs about their ship. Still, the water features for the kids were nice. The Aqua Duck waterside was worthy of a two trips down it. Both of my kids were board with it after two rides and never did it again. It wasn't all that it was made out to be in the marketing and TV commercials.
One thing I liked on Disney verses my past experiences on NCL is that Disney actually enforces their rules - to a point (more later). For example, they have adult areas on the ship and adult pools. Those areas were great and it was nice to take a break away from children. It would nice to see NCL do this on an outside area of their ships during the day rather than just in their nightclubs. Still, I learned quickly that even if I tried to walk my child through an adult area, a Disney crew member was quickly there to remind me that no kids were allowed. On NCL, in my past experiences, there were signs with rules, but they were never enforced.
One of the most important features for cruising for my family, which in addition to my 5 year old daughter includes my 11 year old son, is the kid's club areas. While we expected Disney to knock the socks off NCL in this department, we were deeply disappointed. Sure, the Dream had three times the kids' club that NCL ships have. They were top notch facilities with all the bells and whistles. I am sure no one at sea has a better kids club area for kids than Disney Cruise ships. However, it was a kid factory on the Dream, and I mean that in a negative sense. The staff in the kids area on the Dream were impersonal, and almost not human. They were like drones. When we dropped our daughter off, none would take her into the club unless we begged them. The first time we did drop off, my daughter walked in and no one greeted her, welcomed her, or anything. She quickly started to cry - which we could observe by peeking around the corner. After 30 seconds of seeing no staff was coming to attend to her, I went in to see her. Unlike on NCL, the Dream kid's club staff did allow parents into the Kids Club, the only other perk I found verses NCL. I spent some time going from station to station with my daughter. The staff kept recommending my daughter go to one of their numerous computer labs to make a fairy or a Minnie on a computer. No one ever asked if my 5 year old daughter could read. I quickly learned that none of their computer programs worked unless you could read. In one lab, I quickly found myself helping 4 other 4 and 5 year olds use the computer while a staff member was attending to another kid in the corner. After one kid beside me was crying uncontrollable for over a minute, I finally called that staff member over since she seemed oblivious to it, and she finally attended to the crying kid. I ended up just leaving with my daughter and no one asked why she wasn't staying. While we did go back to the kids club two more times during the cruise, and my daughter did end up staying both times - we were very disappointed and urned for NCL's kids club. On NCL, the kid's club staff remembered our kids names and greeted them whenever they came. When they departed, they acted sad to see the kids go. On NCL, they bonded with our kids and that was more important than all the fancy toys and gadgets the Dream offered. For this one reason, we will cruise on a NCL ship again with our daughter while she is young verses a Disney Ship.
In past reviews about Disney, people either say they love or were disappointed in the food. Again, with only NCL as a comparison, I will say that the food on the Disney Dream was about 15 to 20% better than food we have had on NCL ships in the past. We never had any meals that weren't really good at all. On NCL, sometimes you get a hockey puck of a steak and the buffets sometimes have some rubbery veggies. We had no complaints about any of the Dream's food and thought dining time was one of the better parts of the cruise. It was our first experience away from "Freestyle" dining that NCL offers. I thought I wouldn't like it, but ended up liking it better on Disney. We were set for the first dining at 5:45pm and it was nice to walk right into the restaurant and be seated right away. On any NCL ship we have been on, we've always had to wait with a buzzer for our turn to eat when going to the common restaurants. We didn't dine in any of the specialty restaurants on the Dream, nor did we ever feel the need to. The Animator's Palate wasn't all it was made out to be as far as talking to Crush the turtle (he came by once during our meal and only talked to the table next to us for 3 minutes, then we never saw him again - so that was quite a disappointment - unless your seat is right next to a big screen, Crush won't come to you), but that, the Enchanted Garden, and the Royal Palace, as well as having the same servers each night was a much better experience for us than we have had on an NCL ship.
One thing we noticed differently about NCL versus Disney was the crew demographic. On the Dream, the crew we interacted with was mostly from India on 6 month contracts. They were very friendly of course - but a bit more stand-off-ish than we were used to on NCL. On NCL, the crew in the dining areas and kitchen are mostly from the Philippines on 9 month contracts. We found that the crew on NCL was just slightly more friendly and easier to interact with than the Disney crew - but we aren't sure whether that was a result of their nationality and demographic, or by policy. It seems like there were always more officers available to talk to and address concerns with on NCL verses the Dream. On the Dream, the Indian people didn't have as many officers as the Filipino's have on the NCL ships. Again, not sure why that is? Not a deciding factor either way - both crews were top notch.
We enjoyed our cabin on the Dream versus cabin's we have had on NCL ships in the past. The separation of the toilet and shower was a nice amenity. As was access in our cabin to all the Disney movies ever made on-demand. Other than that, the cabins and service were about the same.
The shows on NCL were far better than shows on the Dream, which was surprising. Granted, our daughter liked seeing the Disney characters in the shows, and that was well worth it. For adults however, NCL has never let us down. The Dream's shows were just, "okay".
The second major difference between NCL and Disney besides the kid's club was the activities on the ship. We were so overwhelmed with all the things to do on the Dream, we actually felt less relaxed and under pressure more than we wanted to attend and do as many of them as possible. By my 2nd day on a NCL ship, I have usually seen and used most of the ship features. After 4 days on the Dream, I know I only ever saw half the ship. I only learned about a mini-golf course on the back deck of the Dream while I was debarking at the end of the cruise and another passenger mentioned it. This isn't to say that NCL doesn't offer enough to do, but Disney is certainly over the top. As I said, I kind of wish I had less options on the Dream so I wasn't so pressured to not miss something. I never really go to enjoy one feature on the Dream very long.
The third major difference on the Dream between other NCL ships we have sailed was the Spa. This is the 2nd most important area of the ship for us after the Kids' Club. While the Spa staff, reception, massages, and treatments on the Dream were comparable to NCL ships, we were disappointed by what the daily spa pass offered on the Dream versus what we have experienced on the Norwegian Gem or Jewell. For $29 a day on the Dream, we had access to a coed room with 8 or so heated chairs, two small whirlpools with almost no jet power, and two steam rooms. This was a far cry from the large adult's only pools, powerful jetted tubs, and large men or woman's private areas on the NCL ships on what was around a $100 pass per cruise. We expected much more from Disney in this area and were very disappointed. If you are a Spa-at-sea person, NCL beats Disney hands down in this category.
A quick mention on the port visits on this cruise. We did Atlantis Aquaventure in Nassau . It was our second visit to the water park at Atlantis and it is well worth the money for the visit. The water park there is AMAZING. One warning, the "Lazy River" is anything but. In fact, I don't think that ride would even be legal in the US. My wife cracked her head and has a major bruise on her back from the ride down that rapid river ride. My 5 yo daughter has bruises and bumps all over her. I survived without a bump - but there should be more cautions there to protect people from banging off the walls and bottom of the river. Fun ride - but not for those that aren't well prepared! Castaway Cay blows NCL's Great Stirrup Cay out of the water of course - but if you are just looking for a beach day as we were, that didn't matter much to us. The Disney lifeguards were quite "giztabo-like" in managing the rules on Castaway Cay, which got annoying. It seemed they were always yelling at someone for something. They used old voice-powered loud hailing tubes versus more modern ones and you could never understand what they were yelling. At times the life guards started yelling for missing people from families, etc, and I gave up trying to listen to what they were yelling about.
In summary, with the exception of the Spa and Kid's Club, I would say that the Disney was about 10 to 15% better at what they do and offer than NCL. However, if having your kids cared for in an area where the counselors seem genuinely interested in them and relaxing in a larger spa is important to you, NCL is the place to be. We certainly weren't sold that Disney was better than NCL and will probably go back to NCL, even if the steaks may not be as nice, or the line for the freestyle dining is a bit longer. We are happy that we cruised on the Dream and will have wonderful memories of that trip. It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip however and a chance to see how Disney does what it does. Seeing all the Disney characters and enjoying their show as very satisfying.
A few quick final observations. We never saw so many adult couples fighting randomly as we did on the Disney Cruise. Not sure if was a weird anomaly or what - but it seemed whenever we were in an elevator, waiting for one, or in a theater before a show, there was at least one couple nearby in a some sort of a "couple's love fight". While on our cruise, Vanna White and Pat Sajek came onboard to film a promo for Wheel of Fortune. The camera crews set up in public access areas, but on both occasions that I approached the filming areas, out of line-of-site of the cameras, I was rudely told to "go away" by Disney crew and not approach the filming areas. The crew should have either roped off the area or filmed in a location not accessible to Guests if they didn't want us checking things out. I was a bit put off by this. It went back to Disney's constant willingness to keep it's Guests in line. One time, I went to use the main staircase in the lobby area only to be yelled at by a crew member that I couldn't use the stairs. I looked around and couldn't figure out why. So, I asked the guy yelling at me and he said it was because they were setting up to take photos of Guests. Okay - so if they were setting up and no one was using the stairs yet, what was the big deal of stopping me from using them for a minute - no one else was around? The same thing happened on Castaway Cay when we arrived early at their water slides on the family beach. There were no lines and hardly any people there, so I swam under the rope to go do the slide again with my daughter after doing it the first time. I was practically physically attacked by a life guard for that action! He made sure I knew that I had to swim all the way back to the beach and cross over the rope there, not any earlier. I left the slide area after that. Read Less

Our group of 3 included a first time cruiser and we are so happy we chose Sensation! We had so much fun on this ship. The staff was not only polite and professional, but a lot of fun. Our cabin steward called us by name every time he saw ... Read More

Our group of 3 included a first time cruiser and we are so happy we chose Sensation! We had so much fun on this ship. The staff was not only polite and professional, but a lot of fun. Our cabin steward called us by name every time he saw us and my favorite crew member was Pablo, an assistant to the cruise director. We went to some of the "less popular" games/events where he was in charge and were glad we did! He presented his "ship on a stick" trophy as if it were an Oscar! FUN!! We were a little concerned that unlike R/C Enchantment, the ship doesn't go to a private island, but instead has a day at sea. I still prefer the island stop, but not a deal breaker at all. The ship was full of activites on the sea day, but the pool did get a little crowded with a full ship. We have never cruised with 3 in a cabin before, but our stateroom was perfect. The "bunk" was wall mounted and our cabin steward put it up and down as if he read our minds. The bottom twin beds were pushed together as a king and we still had room to move. Highly recommend this room if there are 3 cruisers in a party. Read Less

This was our first cruise so I really dont have a lot of information about other ships to compare with other than what I've read on here. I will just give a heads up as to our experience. it was GREAT!! First off if you are doing this ... Read More

This was our first cruise so I really dont have a lot of information about other ships to compare with other than what I've read on here. I will just give a heads up as to our experience. it was GREAT!! First off if you are doing this on a budget and need to figure out transportation from MCO to the port/hotel.. I recommend Cocoa Beach Suites or 4 points Sheridan. They are sister hotels we stayed at CBS on the night after our cruise and they offered a free shuttle and parking for my rental car during the cruise. $84 for a King size suite that had the seperate bedroom, kitchenette , living room etc.. not the Ritz but it was nice for the price. on that same note Carnival charges $35 per person per trip for their shuttle, for us that would have been $140 and not letting us get to hotel etc. Rental car at Advantage was $85 + 14 in gas.. We drove down A1A , Kennedy Space Center , the mall, all at half the price almost of the shuttle..
OK NOW ON TO THE CRUISE AND SHIP ITSELF
This ship is a little smaller than the others we saw in port but make no mistake it is a monster of a ship still. Yes it is purple but you get used to it pretty quick. The counter was quick and easy - I honestly do NOT recommend First to the Fun. I wanted to get it but after getting there was glad my wife talked me out of it. We were curbside to poolside in 20 mins or so.. got there around 1145-1200... My room was ready by 1, luggage by 3. There was constantly workers cleaning the ship so no worries of garbage laying around.
THE FOOD:
The food was really good. My wife tried and LOVED Mongolian Wok.. I tried a few of the grill offerings, the ice cream machine was ehh.. pizza was good, didnt try the deli... Room Service - my wife liked the Reuben , the steakloin on french was ok.. but the Grilled cheese was great... MAIN DINING ROOM -ECSTASY When you arrive, check your table.. if you see a worker in there ask if your table is one that Ide Burgas will be taking care of, if not, ask to switch to his!!! I can not stress this enough . This guy is the highlight of the whole ship.. he has a charm and personality that is unmatchable. He joked with us, pranked us, kept our glasses and plates full ( I had multiple starters and/or entrees every night) . I will attempt to upload a video of him dancing on the last night and share a link here later... The food was good as I said , multiples each time.. Seaday Brunch, Eggs Benedict is the way to go.. like lil yolky egg Mcmuffins. if you order cheesy grits ask for it minus the jalapeno as it was SUPER hot.
STEWARD
short and sweet.. We had the Upper 1.. porthole at the very front of ship. our steward ( pronounced Again) was on top of his game. kept our room clean, had awesome towel animals every night, great for info, I even left my keys in the room once and he saw me in the hallway , I explained what happened , he said ' no worries Mr. Phillip, I'm here.'
ENTERTAINMENT
I am 37 years old and married so didn't check out Kaleidoscope or any of the 'clubs'.. we went to the adult comedy shows and while cursing was plentiful, I've never seen my wife laugh so hard.. We watched Curves , which was a lil risque.. (guys sit up front or on the aisle on bottom floor lol ) We caught part of the love and marriage which was a newlywed type show with fellow cruisers, it was ok. Far From Over was pretty good , the purple rain segment was the best. Be sure to check out Tsurita in the main lobby ( also youtube rapping with Tsurita) . Music Degree is the bar band by the Casino. They are kind of in the hallway , but these guys are Impressive. they are all from the Philippines but sound just like Pink Floyd, Def Lepard , 3 Doors Down and many of the other rock bands they are covering.. Jason Jase Apps was our Director. HE IS AN IDIOT!! not that bad kind of idiot, like the outgoing , anything for a laugh, pretty funny guy idiot.. He is on the tv stations a lot and hosts the shows..
NASSAU / MELIA/ JITNEY #10
We got off the ship and I will tell you , nothing on this site can prepare you for the complete overload of Vendors that will approach you before Bay street.. offering taxi rides, hair braids, bracelets, water, etc.. it was a lil overwhelming.. to get the jitney just head into town, we went down the back street along the ships to go by the Harley shop, then at the Straw Market ( you will know it as it will have steps all around the building and tons of women yelling for you to come check their shops) . then turn right on bay street about 2 corners to George, buses are parked on the corner.. hop on tell the driver you destination (MELIA) and off you go. Rate is 1.25 , we paid 2 just to give a tip. He dropped us right in front of the Melia and we went to the Daq Shaq. Gotta say, we were disappointed. Good maybe just hyped too much on here. Took our drinks into Melia with no problems. bought our day passes. If you do this resort, on your way to the beach be sure to stop at the towel tent across from the bar as they have a waiver you have to sign before you can do any of the activities.. snorkeling is very fun.. I'm a novice swimmer, but you get a life vest from them and just float with it over their reefs. I swam over and photo'd a stingray on one of the reefs.. The Jitney back was a bit longer at 3 oclock with all the school kids etc.. shops were nice. We tried the conch fritters. and then waded thru the vendors again on the way back to ship..
EXPERIENCE
We had a good time. As soon as you get on the Lido deck , waiters will offer you drinks left and right..
On the first night they advertise the Fun Shops having Liquor sales.. this is a great price .. we got 4 bottles of flavored Bicardi rum/ Captain Morgan for $29. this gave us raffle tickets for a prize pack later that night. WE WON! got another Bicardi bottle, Crown Royal and Amarulla... Now what they dont tell you right off is that it is not delivered till 8-10 pm saturday night (last night of your cruise) so DO NOT PLAN TO DRINK IT ON SHIP... you also are not advised till last night of Customs form to claim any purchases in Nassau or onboard and the limits you have (one bottle of liquor per person). Luckily the customs guy didnt bat an eye when we told him about them and winning them.. BTW I have an awesome way that worked to take a case of bud light or whatever onboard ( I did Twisted Tea) I will share if you message me on it. dont want to put it right out there in case these boards are watched any.. The last day at sea was a lil rocky due to a storm coming in. Read Less

While on vacation in Orlando we decided to take the 4-night cruise to the Bahamas as we always wanted to go there. The cabin we were in was pretty nice and big though it could have been cleaner; there were stains on the carpet. It's ... Read More

While on vacation in Orlando we decided to take the 4-night cruise to the Bahamas as we always wanted to go there. The cabin we were in was pretty nice and big though it could have been cleaner; there were stains on the carpet. It's easy enough to find everything on the ship but the way to get places is horrible. Not all elevators go to all decks which by the way are named quite illogical too. We were on the so-called Upper deck which was deck 6. To get to Lido deck from our cabin was quite a challenge.
The first big disappointment was the smoking policy. Although there were rules for smoking many passengers did not care and smoked wherever they wanted. Crew members did not object at all. The result is that you smell cigarette smoke all over the ship. Even more ridiculous is that the nightclub Kaleidoscope is a smoking area which basically means that as a non-smoker you cannot go there.
We had hoped for at least one specialty restaurant but there was no such thing. Instead we went to the Fantasy dining room. Big mistake that turned out to be. The waiter we got appointed smelled terrible from his mouth and started by trying to sell us water as if it was wine. We didn't want that and he immediately went on by trying to sell us a three-pack of wine selecion while we already told him we only wanted a glass. He was clearly disappointed. We decided to have a shrimp cocktail and lasagne. Even before the appetizer arrived we were bothered by a photographer wanting to take our picture. NO! The shrimp cocktail had FIVE of them, wow!. While waiting for the main course and drinking from our glass of wine we were bothered (again!) by a guy selling shots. Huh? Seriously? Can't you see we are drinking wine? Do shots not belong in a bar? The lasagne was salty, not just a bit salty, but really salty. We could not finish it. In the meantime a guy dressed as a pirate showed up and yet another photographer. NOT AGAIN! We were offered something else but declined. There wasn't much on the dessert menu we liked and decided to leave. Our waiter was not amused and clearly showed that. From that moment onwards we only ate from the buffet on the Lido deck which was actually a lot better. More quiet too as you do not get interrupted every five minutes.
To a certain extent I understand that money needs to be made, but what happened here is close to harrassment.The constant reminders about art actions (who wants to buy art on a ship anyway?), jewelry sales (again, why on earth would you buy jewelry on a cruise?), overpriced cocktails and excursions are ridiculous. What is even worse is the way they are doing it. Warnings against locals selling tours, renting scooters and crime against tourists are being used to get people to buy heavily overpiced tours. We rented a car in Freeport and saw more of the island than on any tour at a much lower price. In Nassau we went on foot and saw the city twice for free. Pure out of curiosity I asked a Carnival girl about the city tour they offered when we left the ship. She claimed we would see the whole island (really, that's what she said) for only $19.99 and showed us where we would go then. It was basically the round we went on by foot for free. When I explained to her that the whole island was a bit more than the three streets she showed she got pissed.
A nice surprise were the shows Curves and Far from over. Really good dancers and the singing was great.
Don't get me wrong, we had quite a nice time but don't be fooled into buying expensive tours. Use the ship as a means of transportation only. Read Less

I booked this cruise to surprise my husband for his 50th birthday.This was our 4th time sailing on the Sensation, our 10th cruise with 7 of these being with Carnival,and we were very disappointed this time. Living very close to Port ... Read More

I booked this cruise to surprise my husband for his 50th birthday.This was our 4th time sailing on the Sensation, our 10th cruise with 7 of these being with Carnival,and we were very disappointed this time. Living very close to Port Canaveral it is a nice option to have for a short vacation.
Prior to boarding I was called by Carnival to see if I would be interested in an upgrade and I took this offer when I spoke with the representative she had made arrangements for my husbands birthday at our dining. After booking with the upgrade I purchased online the birthday package cake and decorations to be brought to the room during the day while we were at port in Nassau. Putting my trust in Carnival was a mistake. I came on board with nothing because I had believed the cake,decorations, etc.. would be handled.
Boarding the ship was great I would recommend priority booking to anyone,this made boarding comfortable and effortless. Everyone was very friendly and welcoming. We arrived about 12:30 -1:00 and was told that our room was not ready.We purchased the "Cheers" drink package, I don't feel that it is fair for the shorter cruises the price is higher because we definitely did not get our moneys worth on this.This should be a flat rate for all cruises without the drink restrictions. We have noticed in the past that the food on the longer cruises has been better and we still feel this way. Again with this being our 4th time on the Sensation we already anticipated the long lines and lack of choices compared to other boats, nothing has changed here. I have always boasted to friends and family that the service with Carnival is much better than other cruise lines. The Sensation seems to be lacking in this aspect. The service on this boat was much better in the past. The dining staff,room stewards, casino staff and bar service would always refer to you by name and know what you need. We were disappointed that we didn't have this on this trip.It almost felt that the boat was under staffed. Long waits at the bar or you would wait forever for bar service at any of the gaming tables in the casino, and don't even think that you could get a drink if you were playing slots, we would have to leave and go to the bar to get a drink ourselves and then wait in a huge line because only one or two bartenders would be working. The casino has also made some changes. Newer slot machines which was probably needed but it seems to be focusing more on the penny slots.But more importantly the payout was not there. On past cruises we could at least win a little to make you want to keep playing but not anymore. We spent 3x more than we won.And also speaking with other guest that had sailed this boat before they felt the same way. We were not alone,no one was enjoying the casino as they had in the past.
After we docked in Nassau on my husbands birthday, I was elated knowing that when we returned back to the boat the cake and decorations would be there. I felt that I could relax and enjoy a vacation too and trusted that Carnival had everything that I ordered prior to boarding.We spent the day in Nassau visiting the Atlantis for some gambling and some restaurants. After getting back on the ship and to our room after 5pm, I was certain that when we opened the door the cake and decor would have been set up.Nothing was done. I resorted back to my original thought that the boat seemed under staffed and maybe they were running behind. We got ready for our dinner which was the late seating and this was the elegant night. Again I had made arrangements for them to sing to my husband for his birthday. When we arrived and sat at our table the waitstaff had approached my husband about his hat. They told him no hats were allowed on the formal night. My husband wears a hat for personal reasons,and is very self conscious about why. So instead of explaining to them causing him ant further embarrassment or humiliation we stood up and left. We were given no options. As we were walking out of the dining room I not only noticed people in hats but, t-shirts,shorts,and flip flop sandals.These people were not being turned away.This situation also made it to uncomfortable to eat in the dining room for the rest of the cruise. We then had to eat dinner on the lido deck arriving about 5 minutes before they were shutting down the buffet. Not even enough time to get through the food line and the salad bar.They are quick to break down these food stations and if you ask any questions there is a real language barrier.
After this we went back to our room and still no cake or decorations. At this point I am so upset and go down to guest services to find out what went wrong. I believe they tried to find every way manageable for them not to take the blame and say this was a mistake on my part. I showed them the conformation # for what I had ordered and time requested. The manager then came out and apologized and said there was an issue with the computer system. I told her about the dinner issues and how I had not brought anything because I was under the impression it would be handled by Carnival. I told her this was my husbands 50th birthday. You only turn 50 once. I was in tears and so sad that this birthday had turned out this way, she offered me a tissue and said they would sent the birthday package to the room within 15 min. I told her not to bother because it was already 10pm. She pleaded to let them send the cake and something special to the room. I was so upset and felt there was no other option to salvage this special day for my husband. They sent the cake and decorations as well as a bottle of champagne. I guess the champagne was supposed to make everything alright? Neither of us even drink champagne so this was left on the boat.
I am a very forgiving optimistic person and hope that this was an isolated incidence.I also feel that I was way to patient about this for as upset as I was. I spent way to much money on this cruise for what I had received. I'm not saying that I will never sail with Carnival again, just not on the Sensation. I will however be looking into other cruise lines that sail out of our port to maybe give them a chance. Read Less

Having cruised multiple times (Disney, Carnival, NCL, Princess and Holland I have a good basis for reviewing. Disney makes their cruises Funtastic. They are my number One cruise line. Embarkation is a breeze; this was the shortest and ... Read More

Having cruised multiple times (Disney, Carnival, NCL, Princess and Holland I have a good basis for reviewing. Disney makes their cruises Funtastic. They are my number One cruise line. Embarkation is a breeze; this was the shortest and easiest time to get through the process than any other cruise I have experienced. And disembarkation was so easy-we had assigned breakfast times and restaurant when we finished eating the announcement came we had cleared customs and we walked off ship, got our luggage and were on the way to the airport. This whole process was quick and easy.
The Ship is beautiful the staff is well informed and very helpful. We had two large porthole rooms which were perfect for us. We had a two year old and a 5 year old and they loved sitting in the porthole. Every night we had towel creatures in our room. So much fun the night we came back and there was a towel monkey wearing a pair of sunglasses hanging from the ceiling. The shows were wonderful, we saw two 3d movies on board in the lovely theatre. The kids used the pool and the splash zone and it was hard to get them out of there. The 5 year old loved the kids club and all the activities for her.
Castaway Cay: Love it! We went parasailing and enjoyed the beach and snorkeling. I have been to other Cruise Islands and Castaway Cay surpasses all of the other islands by miles. Umbrellas or trees over each chair. The ship was filled to capacity and there were enough beach chairs for everyone and all in good locations.
Disney knows how to do it right. One night at Dinner-we ordered our meals and the head waiter said you need to order the Sea Bass and he brought a plate for us to share. Of course it was delicious as was all the food. The dining rooms were decorated beautifully. On another night the 5 year old came to dinner dressed up in her Princess dress and the staff at the door (15 people) announced that there was a Princess in the Hall and they all started applauding our Little Princess-her face was just beaming.
Thank you Disney for a Magical Experience.
Read Less